Center pivot irrigation is a form of overhead crop irrigation in which equipment rotates around a central pivot. Several segments of pipe are joined together and supported by trusses, mounted on mobile towers, and sprinklers are positioned along the length of the pipe. The system is fed with water from a central pivot point attached to one end of the pipe, and the entire irrigation system rotates about the central pivot point.
Each mobile tower uses wheels or tracks to move in a circular pattern. A master pace for the rotation is set by the outside wheels/tracks (i.e., the set of wheels or tracks furthest from the central pivot point), and the inner sets of wheels/tracks use angle sensors to determine when the bend at a truss/joint is exceeds a certain threshold, indicating that the tower should be moved forward to keep the pipe segments aligned. Originally, the irrigation systems were water powered, but currently most center pivot irrigation systems are powered by either electric or hydraulic motors mounted at each tower. The motor drives a reduction gearbox and transverse drive shafts transmit power to another reduction gearbox mounted behind each wheel.
Each of the center pivot irrigation systems is controlled by at least a panel control mounted on the central pivot point. Typically, the panel control allows for at least manual push-button start/stop control of the irrigation system. The control panel may also include various displays indicating, for example, electrical output, water pressure, and the like.
The center pivot irrigation systems occasionally malfunction. For example, the wheels or tracks may stop rotating. When this occurs, the process required for diagnosing and fixing the motor can be time consuming, requiring several trips through the field to repair. Typically, a worker would first need to walk to the central pivot point to shut down the malfunctioning irrigation system. Next, the worker would have to walk to the area of the span that malfunctioned to diagnose the problem. Following that, the worker probably has to retrieve any tools and repair parts required to make necessary repairs to the irrigation system. After making all required repairs, the worker returns to the central pivot to activate the system, and then must return to the area that had malfunctioned to ensure that the system is functioning properly.
Some systems allow for basic control and monitoring of the center pivot irrigation system through a mobile phone. However, in some rural farming areas, mobile phone service is unreliable or simply non-existent. Moreover, mobile phone control requires special control panels for the irrigation system. Not only are these panels more costly than a typical control panel, but separate panels must be purchased for each center pivot irrigation system the user wishes to control via a mobile phone. Additionally, there is sometimes a time delay of up to an hour or more between issuing a command to the control panel via mobile phone and execution of the command by the control panel.